BOOKS: Crisis and Change Today. By Peter Knapp and Alan J. Spector

[Tace]

Understanding Marx

Review of Crisis and Change Today. By Peter Knapp and Alan J. Spector

William T. Hathaway -- World News Trust

April 21, 2014

Knapp and Spector have written a superb introduction to Marxist thought, a much-needed one, since reading Marx can be a daunting task. The grand old man's prose is often ponderous, abstract, and complex, so many readers can't discern his full meaning.

Crisis and Change Today is a lucid presentation of Marx's ideas, explaining his views on history, economics, politics, and philosophy in a way that makes them understandable and also does justice to their complexity. The book's clear, well-organized prose conveys the sweep of Marx's vision, the efforts his followers have made to actualize it, and the resistance they have encountered.

In pointing out both the achievements and failures of the attempts to build socialism, the authors avoid sectarian judgments, and they analyze the reactionary tendencies of our time without succumbing to defeatism. Their tone is never strident or proselytizing, and the book is helpful even for those trying to refute Marx's ideas. Both authors are professors of sociology, so the book is academically sound but still "reader friendly."

The section on the failure of socialism in the Soviet Union is particularly outstanding, going well beyond the simplistic rubber-stamp of "Stalinism" and analyzing the complex problems the new nation faced and the limited options they had to solve them. It presents convincing arguments that humanity can learn from those mistakes and do better this time.

more

http://worldnewstrust.com/books-crisis-and-change-today-by-peter-knapp-and-alan-j-spector